Now this is an product from one of the godfathers of PC hardware manufacturers. Mushkin are a legend in the high performance memory business. Although here we have something that we hope will be rather special, as they are entering the graphics cards market with a bang. We have the new single PCB based GeForce GTX 295 Ultimate version, one of the very fastest graphics cards currently on the market. This is entirely new for Mushkin and although we don't know if they will last, since also OCZ tried it some time ago when the G80 chipset came out as a superior accelerator. So the good thing about it is that we once again get a brand with a name that has proven itself already with many products. - Vortez Hardware

Mushkin GeForce GTX 295 Ultimate Graphics Preview

Well we must say that first impressions most definitely count for something. The GeForce GTX 295 Ultimate edition comes in a gorgeous wooden box which is very neatly finished with chromed hinges and latches and the Ultimate logo on the top. Additional card details are shown on some subtle stickers attached to the front of the box itself. Inside the graphics card is protected by the essential anti-static bag and the whole lot is encased within a carefully cut out styrofoam section. As with the dual PCB based GeForce GTX 295 the card is comprised of two cores, having 240 stream processors per core making a total of 480 shaders.

As the evolution of the dual PCB'd version it is ultimately identical. It has just the same number of stream processors, same amount of memory, same memory interface, it uses the same 55nm process as the previous version and uses the same amount of power too. So it's performance will be the same when run at the same speeds. The cooling solution has been changed as a result of the single PCB design. With a clean and simple design, dominated by an larger centrally located cooling fan. Also each end is vented to allow the hot air to be exhausted immediately away from the cores and keeping the temperature in check.

The Mushkin version is just a wonderful piece of hardware. It is expensive and the bundle isn't particularly expansive but it is packaged nicely and the performance simply speaks for itself. As of now, and due to this being a very early sample, we could not find a price online but when you consider that similar alternatives cost around $550, you can see it is not an inconsiderable amount of money. As we've mentioned before, if you are considering a card such as this you may also be looking into multi GPU solutions. This new GeForce GTX 295 provides blistering performance in a cool running and relatively compact unit.

Like the previous GeForce GTX 295's we tested we would say that the Mushkin is not the downright best outright value but it does offer an incredibly attractive solution for someone wanting a cool running but incredibly powerful gaming card. Also, just remember that there will most likely be some inherent savings when compared to a full blown dual SLI setup. In conclusion we can only say that it's a great card that comes thoroughly recommended.